The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham.

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.